We had a full weekend of celebration, starting on Friday evening when his grandparents and aunt and uncle visited.
An evening with family, cake, and birthday presents was great, but it was only the start of the celebration.
This year, we wanted to do something s little special. And so the next day, we started on a little staycation by driving out to Schaumburg, a suburb about 45 minutes away. We stayed at a hotel for the 3-day weekend, where Kai could use the swimming pool and we could go on some fun outings out there.
We had plans to have dinner that first night at a Brazilian steakhouse, but I had gotten sick and we figured it would be a waste to go that night. Instead, we ordered in Chicago-style deep dish pizza to our hotel room and watched a movie.
The next day, we went to a Legoland Discovery Center. Kai's getting a little on the older side for this place, but he still enjoyed seeing all of the Lego creations.
And he especially enjoyed seeing the 3D movies there.
I was feeling pretty miserable and could not wait to get back to the hotel to crash for a a couple of hours. Kai relaxed on the iPad and then my wife took him to the swimming pool again. We also had a little Valentine's celebration.
And then it was time to go to Medieval Times!
For those not familiar, Medieval Times is a live show that stages battles between knights on horseback as the audience cheers while enjoying dinner.
A snowstorm had started so we were very glad to have stayed in a hotel that was only a few minutes away. It would have been a nightmare trying to drive there from home through all that snow. We got there in plenty of time to have our celebration photo taken.
We had great seats, right in the center and up pretty close.
The show had a lot of action - I kind of liken it to a medieval WWF - and Kai really enjoyed it.
The knights and horses were very talented and they made it fun.
The food was surprisingly good, too. Here were are enjoying dragon's blood soup, which tastes just like tomato soup.
All of the food was eaten by hand; there were no utensils.
Afterward we drove back and enjoyed our final night in the hotel.
The next day, we drove home. Kai got to open the rest of his birthday presents and then Mom took him to a movie and then to Dave & Busters. I went to bed, finally getting a chance to rest.
Kai enjoyed his entire birthday weekend.
The next day, he went back to school.
And got sent home with a fever.
He got sick. My wife got sick.
It's been a long week, but we are very happy that Kai enjoyed his birthday celebration.
Oh you poor things getting sick! Sorry you had to feel miserable the whole weekend away! Hope everyone is better soon. The outings sure sounded fun...Kai looks like he really had a fun birthday!
ReplyDeleteHe's been pretty miserable for the past few days... still hoping he can go back to school on Monday. I am feeling better but my wife seems to be on the same sick-schedule as Kai.
DeleteBut we're really glad that he was feeling well last weekend... he did enjoy everything!
Medieval Times...what a great dinner and show. I know Kai must have enjoyed that.
ReplyDeleteI have been having body aches since returning from Japan. I was fortunate that it had never gotten worse. I feel for your family. I hate being sick. About the only thing that makes me feel better is my wife's sick food (seafood rice porridge and umeboshi).
Happy birthday to Kai. Soon...he will be a young man. This is a bittersweet time. Sad to see your son leaving behind his childhood...but it is also a time of pride in seeing how well he is growing up.
My mom used to make okayu with umeboshi when we had gotten sick as children, and my wife makes that occasionally now as well.
DeleteI'm sure these next few years will seem to go by particularly quickly as Kai will change a lot. Wish we could slow down time...